Wonkette

JUN

Gipperporn: Who Said He Wasn't Beloved by the Gays?

shed_a_single_tear A correspondent directed us to this image and informed us, "Unfortunately, the cop and construction worker were unable to attend, sent regrets."

Nation's capital mourns Ronald Reagan, 40th president of the U.S. [KGW.com]

Lost Plane Alert

a_plane_a_plan A Wonkette congressional correspondent has written (via Blackberry, we're guessing) to tell us that the House office buildings were just evacuated "due to an air threat. seems like there was a plane they couldnt account for." If true, this makes for two evacuations in two days because someone lost an airplane.

We're thinking that "running-shoes-with-a-suit" look might make a comeback this summer.

UPDATE: No confirmation on the evacuation. Either it was the shortest false alarm ever or we may not always be able to completely trust random email correspondents. Imagine.

Capitol evacuated before Reagan procession [CNN]

Gipperporn: Here Lies the Press Corps Dignity

So you think the media has found everyone who might, by any stretch, be associated with Ronald Reagan? Now they have -- but talk about squeezing blood from a stone:

The morning after Ronald Reagan died, 82-year-old stone carver Nathen Blackwell of Ventura got a wake-up call from the presidential library near Simi Valley. . . At the top of Blackwell's agenda is the carving of inscriptions on Reagan's headstone. . .

Stone Carver Taps Into a Rock-Solid Legacy [LAT]

Getting In the Vote

The V-Day is for Vote campaign wants you to know that this election "is about valuing your vagina, making it powerful and praising its power to make a difference;" please, the campaign implores, "Vote your vagina."

And you thought touch-screen voting was complicated.

Vote your vagina! [Salon via Gawker]


		· The Coming Plague: BIRDS! · CNN Boy: 'Patient Zero' of Terror Email Hoax? · Yet More Gossip Columnist Interviews · MTV Movie Awards: The Earth Will Stop · The Bitter Investment Banker Email

JUN

Election Recycling: Fresh Doughnuts Edition #

• Kerry leads Bush 51 percent to 44 percent nationwide, says LAT poll; Bush leads in battles for Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin. [LAT and LAT]
• BC04 to do a dry run of its get-out-the-vote strategy in key states including Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania; in Florida, 10,000 volunteers to make over 350,000 phone calls over 72 hours, interrupting some potential voters on the national day of mourning. [AP/Gainsville Sun]
• Kerry uses relationship with Reagan to make subtle criticism of Bush's treatment of congressional Democrats. [NYT]
• Bush "shuffles to the center" as Rove's "guns, gays and God" strategy falters amid voter concerns over the economy, unemployment, and oil prices. [FT/Yahoo]

[more...]

. . . And Starring Tony Blair as Mr. Pink. #

let_me_tell_you_what_like_a_virgins_about

Reservoir Running Dog Capitalists

[AP Photo/CP, Tom Hanson]

JUN

Gipperporn: Unreal Quote #

We got the transcript of Chris Matthews's take on Ronald Reagan's legacy. We quoted Matthews as saying: "He seemed understand the experience of the Greatest Generation better than the guys who were actually in battle could."

What he actually said was: "He seemed to be able to evoke the World War II experience better than the guys who actually were in combat." Apologies for the inaccuracy. (The intern will be beaten. . . Not because it's his fault, we just like doing it.)

But did we get the gist of it? "Evoke" versus "understand"? "Greatest generation" versus "World War II"? Let's let someone who, you know, was "actually in combat" take a swing at it. Tomorrow's Time contains this report:

Television anchors and commentators reached - and at times over-reached - to match the poignant images. When Tom Brokaw of NBC suggested to Bob Dole that Ronald Reagan had been an inspiring flag-bearer for the World War II generation, it was a bit too much for Mr. Dole, who was wounded in Italy. He replied dryly that Mr. Reagan, who spent the war making Army training films in Hollywood, had never heard a shot fired. "But he was a captain," Mr. Dole said. "And mighty proud of it."

Gipperporn: The Triumph of the Unreal [Wonkette]

Great Moments in Marketing: Let's Use Hillary Clinton's Sex Appeal! #

cookie_goggles When we're considering what movie to see, "Does the ad feature a National Security Advisor topless?" is pretty much the first question we ask. And, finally, one does. It's not who we were hoping for -- we'll have to just keep seeing Sandy Berger in our dreams -- but a commercial for "The Stepford Wives" has semi-steamy pix of both Condi Rice and Hillary Clinton. Experts wonder if this is wise.

[more...]

Gipperporn: The Triumph of the Unreal #

Just when we thought we wouldn't actually learn anything from all this Reagan coverage, Chris Matthews gives us a real history lesson. Vamping a bit between MSNBC correspondents' interviews of Stepford Republicans, Matthews noted that, thanks to all of Reagan's war movies, "He seemed understand the experience of the Greatest Generation better than the guys who were actually in battle could."

Yes, having a buddy bleed to death in your arms can dampen your enthusiasm for a war. But when your toughest wartime assignment is to keep your tan even, you don't really mind threatening to start another one.

UPDATE: We got the transcript: "He seemed to be able to evoke the World War II experience better than the guys who actually were in combat." Apologies for the inaccuracy. (The intern will be beaten. . . Not because it's his fault, we just like doing it.) Did we get the gist of it?

[more...]

Gipperporn: The Big Nap #

A Wonkette judicial branch operative provides further proof that life on the Hill is like a big elementary school" (this is in addition to the temper tantrums and name-calling):

I just got word from one of my friends who is a Hill staffer that they will be allowed to cut in line to view Reagan's casket in the Rotunda. The House-wide email says that they'll be allowed to "merge" (i.e., cut) in line with the general masses who've been waiting in line for hours in the D.C. heat.

When I complained that executive branch workers (i.e., me) should be allowed first dibs on cutting, as Reagan served in my branch, not theirs, I was curtly told, "It's our party, not yours."

And if you don't like it, they'll take their corpse and go home! No, seriously: It's great that the staffers are going to be able to get to the casket quickly, because if they take too long to get there, he might not still be dead.

Rumsfeld's Rules #

Hubris got its blog-stained fingers on another damning memo about the use of unorthodox interrogation techniques on suspected terrorists. Rumsfeld, it appears, just wanted his guys to think "outside the box":

wish_id_thought_of_it

Memorandum [Hubris]

UPDATE: A reader writes in with suspicions:

From: XXXX@XXXX.com
Subject: rumsfeld's rimjob memo a fake?
Date: June 9, 2004 11:03:16 AM EDT
To: tips@wonkette.com

I'm never in line to defend Rumsfeld, and I don't intend to here. But:
Look at the "To" field on the memo at Hubris. It should be spelled
Doug Feith, *not* Doug Faith.

A fake you say? A fake!?!!

Gipperporn: What Liberal Media? #

The WP's Howard Kurtz reports on a new study from the Pew Research Center:

Republicans have come to distrust the media in greater numbers since President Bush took office, says a new poll released yesterday [and]. . . Only about half as many Republicans as Democrats find the usual media suspects credible.

Yeah, fucking liberal media. I wouldn't trust those guys, either. . . The following guests appeared on Tuesday's political shows and public affairs programs:

• "Inside Politics" (CNN): Hosted former Reagan chief of staff Ken Duberstein, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Ronald Reagan Legacy Project's Grover Norquist.
• "Crossfire" (CNN): Hosted former Reagan Attorney General Ed Meese, former Reagan adviser Ken Adelman and Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C.
• "Wolf Blitzer Reports" (CNN): Hosted Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.
• "Hardball" (MSNBC): Hosted former Reagan advisers Richard Allen and Martin Anderson, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., and National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormick.
• "O'Reilly Factor" (FNC): Hosted former Reagan Chief of Staff Michael Deaver.
• "Capital Report" (CNBC): Hosted Empower America's Bill Bennett and Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif.
• "Deborah Norville Tonight" (MSNBC): Hosted former Nancy Reagan spokeswoman Sheila Tate.
• "Larry King Live" (CNN): Hosted former President Gerald Ford and Betty Ford.
• "Hannity & Colmes" (FNC): Hosted Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Meese.
• "Scarborough Country" (MSNBC): Hosted former Reagan adviser Ed Rollins.
• "Nightline" (ABC): Focused on Ronald Reagan's legacy.

Fewer Republicans Trust the News, Survey Finds [WP]
TV Guests [National Journal]

Election Recycling: Florida Has Changed Edition #

• Memo was sent to Bush regarding terror interrogations in 2002. [WP and WSJ and WT]
• Kerry: "I had quite a few meetings with him. I met with Reagan a lot more than I've met with this president." Kerry visits casket. [NYT and USAT and BG]
• Approximately 100,000 visit Reagan. [NYT and LAT]
• Many Republicans bonded to Reagan. [WP and WT]
• Complicated relationship between Bush, Reagan families. [NYT]
• Kerry sticks to poor description of economy. [LAT]
• Reagan influenced both candidates; both seek to use legacy. [USAT and BG]